Author: DW

Stock markets dipped across the board early on Monday, with traders nervous after another weekend yielded no real signs of deescalation in Iran or the wider Gulf region or a reduction in the rising energy prices the conflict is causing. Several of the major Asian markets dipped by 3% or more, while Europe’s main indices all shed in the region of 2% in morning trading, government bond yields were up and even the traditional safe havens gold and silver shed more than 6% and 7% of their values. At its lowest ebb, Japan’s Nikkei was down nearly 5% in a single…

Across history, European depictions of the Amazon have typically presented the South American region as a vast, untouched expanse. Over time, a set of tropes took hold: the rainforest as a “virgin” wilderness; Indigenous life cast as belonging to an earlier era; the whole region suspended outside of time. As a result, a complex, culturally diverse territory has been flattened into an exotic backdrop. Yet this framing of “the Amazon” as a single, timeless wilderness bears little resemblance to the culturally and historically diverse region of “Amazonia,” the titular focus of a new exhibition in Bonn. A shift in perspective Co‑curated by anthropologist Leandro Varison and Brazilian Indigenous…

A well-known stock market proverb says: “Buy when the cannons are firing.” In other words, in times of war and uncertainty, people should invest. Those looking to protect their wealth and assets often turn to gold — even though gold is rarely cheap in turbulent times. In times of crises, such as a pandemic or a war, demand for gold typically rises. This stronger demand tends to push prices higher, as it did in the first weeks of this year. If prices continue to rise, investments in gold not only preserve wealth but also potentially increase it. So is the…

It makes sense to squeeze every last drop of milk into our coffee and drizzle the remains of our expensive olive oil over our salad — so we stand our kitchens, holding bottles or cartons at awkward angles, waiting and watching with varying degrees of patience. How long do we have to wait? That’s what two physicists at Brown University in Providence, in the US state of Rhode Island, wanted to find out. Their findings were published in the journal Physics of Fluids. Thomas Dutta, a PhD candidate, recalled how his grandmother struggled with getting the last few drops out. And his physics professor,…

The German Football Association (DFB) has broken its silence on the matter of a potential boycott of the World Cup, to be hosted by the United States this summer, with a few games also to be played in Mexico and Canada. Speaking at a German Football League (DFL) meeting on Monday, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf said: “I don’t think this is a big debate at all, because I believe we at the DFB are very unanimous in our view that this debate is completely misguided at this point in time.”  DFL President Hans-Joachim Watzke, also present at the event, said now was…

South Korea’s K-pop phenomenon, the boy band BTS, celebrated a triumphant return to the stage in the capital Seoul on Saturday evening, welcoming tens of thousands of adoring fans to a free comeback concert after a nearly four-year break from performing. The break was necessitated by South Korea’s conscription law, which requires able-bodied males to serve stints of nearly two years in the military. The first of BTS’s seven members began service in 2022 and the last finished in June 2025. With the Gwanghwamun Gate and the Gyeongbokgung Palace awash in color behind and fans waving BTS light sticks all around,…

The sums invested in different countries around the world by oil-rich Gulf states are astronomical. Sovereign wealth funds belonging to countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and other Gulf countries manage around $5 trillion (€4.35 trillion) worth of investments. “The global impact of the Gulf countries is not limited to oil,” Majed al-Ansari, the spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry told journalists during an online panel hosted by the Middle East Council on Global affairs on Tuesday morning. “This region is a hub of the international economy and if it implodes and decides to focus on its…

US President Donald Trump said Iran are still welcome to play in the 2026 football World Cup but maybe shouldn’t for their safety. Iran have said the United States should be kicked out of the soccer tournament, which starts on 11 June, not them. And FIFA President Gianni Infantino says the World Cup can bring people together. There is nothing in the FIFA statutes against tournament hosts being at war. However, Article 3 of the governing body’s statutes do pledge to uphold international human rights standards. Nevertheless, Infantino awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to Trump in December 2025 and was also at the launch…

Yayoi Kusama is one of Japan’s foremost contemporary artists. She’s known for her Instagramable “Infinity Rooms” — immersive installations that use mirrors, lights and reflective surfaces to create the illusion of endless space — as well as her large-scale polka dot sculptures. While her works often appear playful, behind them lies the story of a woman who has faced major social and mental health challenges. Around the age of 10, Yayoi Kusama began experiencing hallucinations, seeing dots and net patterns enveloping everything in her mind’s eye. She has attributed these early visions to the psychological strain of growing up with an…

On Wednesday (March 18), Israel attacked Iran’s South Pars gas field, targeting onshore refinery units and gas storage tanks in Asaluyeh as well as offshore facilities connected to the gas field. In retaliation, Iran quickly hit back with missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar’s main energy hub, Ras Laffan Industrial City, the largest liquified natural gas (LNG) export facility in the world. The Ras Laffan facility encompasses nearly 300 square kilometers (116 square miles) and sustained “extensive damage,” according to QatarEnergy, the state-owned company that runs it in partnership with ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies and Shell. It was the first time an…